Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda
by Hikuya
Summary: When an unusual visitor comes to visit the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas, Raistlin thinks he'll have an easy time getting rid of her. Raistlin got more than he bargained for in this strange character, the only one of her kind on Krynn.
1. How to get inside of a cursed tower, etc

Hikuya: Hello fellow DragonLance fans! This is a new story that has been bouncing around in the empty space in my head for awhile, so I got tired of it echoing and decided to write it down. Sounds like fun, right? Well, this story isn't too much at the moment, but I hope you like it anyway.

Disclaimer: Don't own nothing. If I did, I'd be a very happy person.

Chapter One: How to get into a locked and cursed tower without brining harm to oneself or any others who may make an attempt at getting into said place(A/N this goes on for awhile, so I'm gonna skip the rest.)

It was a perfectly beautiful spring day in the city of Palanthas. The birds were singing, trade was high, and there was love in the air. On the other side of town, however, the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas was not such a happy place. Hm, I wonder why?

Maybe it has something to do with the curse placed on it. Yes, that may very well be it. Anyway, on this day, the powerful wizard of the Black Robes, Raistlin Majere, was very busy with his big, powerful spells of doom and such. And since he didn't want to be disturbed, his poor apprentice, Dalamar, had nothing to do.

He'd studied all of his spells, cast a few because he was bored, ate food, read a book, but nothing seemed to help. So he decided to scry around and see what was happening outside of his dark and dreary home. What he found right outside the Shoikan Grove, was a bit of a shock to him. I mean, it's not every day that you see a gnome sitting outside of a cursed grove writing in a notebook.

Now, gnomes may be smart, but they can also be rather reckless. So to insure the safety of the tower from any gnome flingers, Dalamar immediately went to see what a gnome wanted at the Shoikan Grove, especially since Palanthas is rather far away from Mt. Nevermind.

As he strode out of the grove, the gnome didn't look up. But when Dalamar got closer, he realized that this gnome, wasn't a gnome.

After standing in front of the gnome looking person, the gnome looking person looked up from its writing.

"Hello!" Came the bright voice from the now positively identified GIRL gnome thing. "Isthereanywaythatyoucanhelpme? I'mtryingtogetintothetower,yousee." The girl rapidly spoke in the way that only gnomes can speak. Dalamar stood there blinking for a little bit.

"What did you say?" He said in a rather confused sounding voice. The girl sighed in annoyance, and maybe a little in relief.

"I said, is there anyway that you can help me? I'm trying to get into the tower, you see." She repeated slower for his benefit. At this, Dalamar was instantly suspicious.

"Why do you want to get into the tower, Miss…?" He questioned, preparing a spell to get rid of her, should she be lying and her reasons not helpful to his shalafi.

"Oh, my apologies. I'm here because it happens to be my Life Quest to map the interior of the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas! And my name is Leerabongeorgincarsneezetoeflehighskytillsolamnia-"

"The short version, if you would. What do outsiders call you?" Dalamar quickly stated, not wanting to use up all of his elven life listening to a gnome.

"Oh, people call me Leera. It's very nice to meet you. What's your name?" She said, sticking out her hand, rather like a kender. Dalamar shook her hand and gave her his name.

"Now, Leera, why would any gnome want to map the inside of this tower? Everyone knows it is cursed."

"Well, you see, that's just it. No one knows what it looks like, so my families Life Quest is to find out! And I'm not even really a gnome." She said, looking a little dejected.

"I'm only part gnome. My mother was a gnome, and died trying to get through the Shoikan Grove, when I was little. My father is a half kender, half human. That's why I have pointy ears and I'm taller than any gnome or kender. Papa did teach me a lot about picking locks and borrowing, though. But I have to finish the Life Quest, or else none of my fore fathers and mothers will ever rest in peace!" She said, finishing her story.

Dalamar was a little worried. He decided to inform his shalafi of this strange girl.

"If you would please stay here, I'm going to go inform my shalafi, the master of this tower, that you are here." He said, and turned back into the grove. Leera just smiled and waved, before plopping down and continuing her writing.

The Middle of the Chapter!

Dalamar was outside his shalafi's study. He was a little nervous at interrupting him, should he be doing anything of extreme importance. But he had to risk it. The girl may only be part kender, but she still had kender blood in her. Who knew what she could steal from them?

He steeled himself, and knocked on the heavy wooden door.

"Shalafi? May I speak with you?" He called silently through the door after a few moments.

"Enter, Apprentice." Came a soft, rasping voice from with in the chamber. Dalamar did as commanded and bowed to the black robed figure, sitting in a chair in front of an ornate wooden desk. "What is it?" Raistlin commanded. He did not like being interrupted from his studies. Dalamar winced internally. If he did not do this carefully, his shalafi would be angry.

"There is an interesting visitor outside of the grove, shalafi." And so Dalamar swiftly related the events leading up to him interrupting Raistlin's studies. After he had finished, Raistlin sat thinking for a few moments, before deciding on a plan of action.

"Bring her here to me. We'll let her map the tower. She'll probably just get eaten by something before she gets too far." He stated finally. Dalamar bowed to his shalafi, and retrieved the strange girl.

After having transported both himself and the girl to his shalafi's study, her kender heritage was even more evident.

"WOW! That was one of the neatest things that has ever happened to me! Can we do it again? What else can you do? My dad told me that mages can make stuff blow up! Can you do that? Can you move mountains?" She just kept going on and on and on! Finally, she realized that she had been ranting about nothing in particular, and blushed a dark shade of red. "I'm terribly sorry; it's a bad habit I picked up from my father and his kin. My name is Leera; it's nice to meet you. Thank you for letting me in! What's your name?" She asked politely.

While she had been ranting, Raistlin had been judging her. She had a long, black top knot, with some red highlights running through it. She had the same childish face that all kender have, except it looked a little older, more mature. She stood about 5' 4", head and shoulders above a full grown male kender, and a full grown male gnome. She had long, thin fingers, and carried one large messenger bag, where she had stuffed her book, quill pen, and ink.

Her ears were only slightly pointed, her human heritage making them more curved. She looked about 15 years of age, at least if she were a human. She was wearing a loose, dark blue shirt that was frayed at the edges, and some plain brown pants. Her boots were a little worn looking, but also comfortable he imagined. She must be rather poor, or on the road a lot to have such worn traveling clothes.

Raistlin decided that the girl was no threat to him, and would give her leave to stay in his tower.

"My name is Raistlin. Dalamar will show you to the room you shall be staying in for the time that you are here. If you run into a locked door, do NOT open it. It will more than likely have something rather unpleasant behind it, that you would rather not meet. You are to not interrupt my studies, or my apprentices. If you should need anything, ask Dalamar, or one of the guardians to help you. Understood?"

Leera nodded vigorously. Even though she wanted to explore every inch of the place and open all of the doors as her kender part demanded, she didn't want to be thrown out and never even finish her quest. She quietly followed Dalamar around, taking careful note of where everything was. She hoped that she could pull this off, living with two rather anti social black robed mages in a cursed tower.

She sighed to herself and quietly said "I should have stayed in Kendermore."

Hikuya: Well, that's it for now. I hope you liked it. It'll get better as time goes on, I promise. Leera may only be part kender, but she still has kender blood in her. Who knows what she'll stumble across? Please review! I would be most obliged.

Ta ta!


	2. A chapter in which many strange things o...

Hikuya: Hello, everybody! I'm back, and so is Leera!

Leera: waves Hullo!

Hikuya: Well, first things first, thanks to all of my WONDERFUL reviewers! You all get cookies! passes out cookies and here are my replies!

Pen D. Fox – Don't worry, my friend. There will be plenty of action, I promise. Just had to get the annoying descriptions out of the way, other wise you wouldn't even know what the main character looked like, and that is a rather bad thing.

Beth – Eh heh heh….I'll get to them eventually, I swear! Time constraints and such…I'm a very busy person, you know…

TatzelWurm – Thanks for the support! I like Leera a lot; she's a pretty cool character. And you shall have more of the story, once I'm done with the replies.

Kenderling – You are CORRECT, my fine feathered friend! Notice how Raist told her to not open any of the locked doors. She may be only PART kender, but she still has kender blood. It won't be long until she gets eaten, or drained of her soul, or some such other nasty thing. Or will she…?

Shade-the-wanderer – Thank you! I'm flattered. And I SHALL keep writing, even if it's only for my strange, twisted, amusement. Carry on, my good fellow! Person…

Disclaimer: What do YOU people think? I own NOOOOTHING! Capishe? Capishe.

Chapter TWO! Dun, dun DUN!

Leera looked around the nicely furnished room. _A little fancy and dark for my tastes._ She thought. She shrugged, deciding that since she was there, she might as well clean up and get some sleep. She hadn't slept well in weeks, being chased and all. This decided, she set about her tasks.

At another part of the tower, Dalamar was confronting his teacher.

"Shalafi, why in Nuitari's name did you let that girl in here! Who KNOWS what havoc she'll wreak? I rather like all of my items, and would like to keep them. Not have them lost to some part kender child!" He said in a venomous tone. Raistlin merely eyed him as he would a rather interesting bug.

"Calm yourself, apprentice. I realize that she is part kender, which is why I told her not to open any of the locked doors. What do you think she'll do? Open the doors, obviously. Before three days have passed, she'll be gone. Now go to your studies, I have other things to attend to." He finished, turning back to the papers on his desk. Dalamar bowed, and exited the room.

Well, three days did pass, but, unfortunately for the two mages, Leera wasn't dead yet. Some how, she had managed to keep her kender curiosity in check, and didn't go into any of the locked rooms. She had started at the very bottom of the tower, and was slowly working her way back up the stairs, examining each floor. Needless to say, she hadn't gotten very far yet.

"Let's see…now what's down this hall? One, two, three, four, five, five. Five doors on the right, none on the left, and one door at the very end." She rattled each door, but they were all locked. She stomped her foot angrily. "Every single bloody door I find is locked! How am I supposed to map this stupid tower if I can't get into half of it!" She yelled to no one in particular.

After her little tirade, she started muttering about stupid, black robed mages, who probably couldn't even cast a beginner's spell. Leera is also quiet good at one of the kender forms of attack, the Taunt, so she came up with some rather colorful insults. So, she packed up her notebook, and headed back for the staircase.

Somewhere in the sky…

Nuitari was bored. There was absolutely NOTHING going on anymore! The war was over, had been over for a year, and none of his mages were bothering to do anything but lay low. Not even his favorite, Raistlin, was bothering to do anything, though he was probably plotting something or another.

And since a bored god is a rather dangerous god, Nuitari decided to see what was going on at the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas. It was at this point in time that he came across a strange girl creature muttering insults about someone or another.

"Hmmm….." said Nuitari. '_It's time to have some fun. I've been cooped up here for far too long._' And with that final thought, Nuitari started messing with the world of mortals!

Raistlin was annoyed. That stupid girl had been in his tower for about a week, and still had yet to get eaten. What was wrong? He didn't understand. '_Maybe she has better self control than I originally thought._' He mused. This didn't help the fact that he had been having strange, also rather disturbing, dreams as of late. And he really, really didn't like them. And so, he spent the rest of the day musing about this and the strange girl and why she wasn't dead yet.

Leera was lost. She didn't know how it had happened, but it had happened. She had been trying to find the kitchen, and now she had no idea where she was. Not to mention the fact that she was really hungry. She flopped down, because her feet were sore, and started grumbling.

"Stupid wizards building their stupid towers so stupidly complicated!" and so on. Eventually she fell asleep, and it is at this point that Nuitari made his entrance. He looked down at the strange girl, and, carefully, lifted her with a magic spell. He had a job for her. Nuitari then vanished, taking the girl with him.

Dalamar was walking down the very same hall that Leera was sitting in, and witnessed the entire thing. He spoke the needed spell, and appeared before his shalafi's study. He knocked on the door, and was admitted.

"What is it NOW, apprentice?" Raistlin asked in a none too friendly tone. Dalamar cleared his throat.

"Shalafi, the girl, Leera, has been taken by the god of dark magic, Nuitari, and I don't know where they went."

Bum, bum, BUUUM!

Hikuya: Well, that's it everybody. Now, go scroll down, and click the pretty purply looking button!

Leera: YOU MUST BECOME ONE WITH THE PRETTY PURPLY BUTTON!

Hikuya: And I must become one with the wall! Now, go forth and review!

Leera and Hikuya: Good bye!


End file.
